Bathing and toilets

The word 'crap' does not come from the surname Crapper, as in Thomas Crapper the 19th-century plumber. I learnt that from a fascinating programme about the history of the bathroom, which I watched on BBC iPlayer earlier (available for another week here, although the series seems to be frequently repeated on BBC4). I learnt lots of new words, particularly old words for the toilet. These included 'great house of easement' (in Hampton Court), close stool (like a commode) and ajax (a pun on the old word jakes, meaning privy). The poor lads who had to clean the sewers underneath the Tudor royal court were known as gong scourers. Finally, the common modern word 'bumf' originally meant toilet paper as it was short for 'bum-fodder'.

 

Old public bath-houses were known originally as stews. There were many of these on the south bank of the Thames before Henry VIII's reign. Henry closed them down because the bagnios soon became bordellos, because they were popular with prostitutes. The physician John Floyer (who, coincidentally, treated Samuel Johnson as a baby) was a great advocate of cold baths and believed that they cured impotence, and what he called 'disorders of the codpiece economy'.

 

Finally I discovered that Sadlers Wells, the theatre, is so-called because the land underneath it was the source of medicinal springs.

Comments

[toilet plumbing]

Bathrooms have dramatically change over time. It is so amazing how people work it out in order to reach the comfort we are experiencing right now.

[Plumbers Rochester NY]

I agree with you "toilet Plumbing", things have changed so much over the years. The things we have now days offers a much nicer bathroom and other things.

[plumbing fittings]

Bathroom and toilet is very important in one home. It is a place where people take a bath, doing a nice thing and some water related activities. They say that the personality of one person is based on your bathroom because bathroom is the soul of your house.

[plumber]

Very interesting post! I didn't see the program in BBC but it sounds very interesting. I always wondered about the history of bathrooms, and how did ancient bathrooms looked like.

[Christopher Pia]

Great post. I enjoy reading about the origination of things. I am always surprised yet humored on how things come to be.

[Tribeca Plumber]

I love those shows!! There's also one on the History channel that talks about the history of every day products (such as toilets, salt!, knifes etc') But I have to admit the history behind the plumbing industry is one of the most fascinating ones. Did they also talked about the plumbers in the 19th century England?